Twitter is in the process of revamping its handling of direct messages.

The company is currently deciding whether it should bring its direct-messaging platform to a standalone service or if it should surface it to make it more prominent in its existing offering, All Things Digital is reporting on Thursday, citing multiple people who claim to have knowledge of Twitter's plans.

Twitter has been quietly making changes to its direct messages over the last several months. Earlier this year, Twitter started testing a feature that would let users send direct messages as long as they followed the recipient. That feature is being rolled out slowly across the network right now. The moves are notable, considering Direct Messaging has been largely ignored by Twitter over the last couple of years, and has been buried within its service.

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According to All Things Digital's sources, Twitter sees popular messaging applications, WhatsApp and KakaoTalk, as threats to its position in the communication space. By either launching a standalone messaging app or making its own direct messages more useful, the company could head off that issue.

CNET has contacted Twitter for comment on the report. We will update this story when we have more information.

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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
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